When you fall off the wagon?

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Replies

  • chocl8girl
    chocl8girl Posts: 1,968 Member
    I try to log everything. Occasionally I won't hit "complete" on my diary because I don't want any feedback, but really, the only person I need to be accountable to is myself.
  • SparkleHorse224
    SparkleHorse224 Posts: 98 Member
    You know what you need to do. Do the calories only count if you write them down?

    It's not like there's someone from MFP central standing behind you with a rolled-up newspaper, ready to smack you if you go over your calories (although maybe that would be motivating to some people, I don't know). Logging is a tool to measure energy coming in and going out of your body - if you don't do it, the energy doesn't change, only your awareness of it does.

    The calories don't count if I don't write them down. AND if I break the cupcake in half...all the calories fall out.

    Duh.

    lol

    You're right, you're right. : )
  • robmcd88
    robmcd88 Posts: 85 Member
    If you feel too bad about going over, try to log the excess into the next day and be more determined that day not to go over. Just not logging kind of defeats the purpose.
  • SparkleHorse224
    SparkleHorse224 Posts: 98 Member
    You are all right!

    I will log everything every day. Toot sweet!

    If you are my MFP buddy, and you see that notification that "Sparkhorse224 hasn't logged in for a week!" you have my permission to (GENTLY) nudge me. Nudges, not judges, people.
  • lilteepot
    lilteepot Posts: 97
    This isn't a wagon that you can fall off of, for goodness sakes. This is life. If you stop looking at it as, "I did really bad today. I'm so embarrassed. I don't want anyone to know how badly I fell off the wagon today," and instead, think of it as "Ok... so I made decisions that could have negative repercussions/consequences, and I'm going to have to live with them. What can I learn from this?" Then it kind of becomes impossible to "fall off" the wagon. There are good days and bad days. You celebrate your good days. You take an honest look at your bad days and turn it into a positive lesson (maybe you feel really crappy the morning after eating all that sugar, which you never would have noticed if you didn't know how it felt to NOT eat like that every day.) I think not being honest with yourself is a sign that you're not really seeing this as a lifestyle change, and instead just a trend that you could follow or not follow. If you're going to make bad choices, then by all means, make them and OWN them. Hopefully they'll be worth it. If not, then you have a reason not to make them again.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    If I can accurately log, I usually do. But I often skip the weekends because we tend to eat a lot of meals somewhere other than home that were prepared by someone other than me or my husband so I really have no idea of the ingredients. I don't see the point of guessing and don't need a log to "keep me honest". I ate it whether I log it or not.

    But I don't really consider these days, when I often eat far too many calories and/or exercise less than usual, as "falling off the wagon". They are just a natural part of my life. These days of wanton eating (and drinking) and fun are the reason it’s easy to be good the rest of the time. I would not be as happy or as healthy if I thought I had to eat perfect all the time and exercise hard every day.

    I come from a big family where every occasion/holiday/event involves food and drink, and lots of it. I don't ever want to miss out on those occasions.
  • jjelizalde
    jjelizalde Posts: 377 Member
    Log everything in everyday. Each day is a new day.
  • awidener86
    awidener86 Posts: 260 Member
    I wasn't posting when I'd do bad then completely fell off the wagon. I am also doing weight watchers along with this ( I like the support I get here) so if I don't log here I'm still logging on weight watchers. I usually go over my calories on here but I also think that 1200 was hindering my weightloss before.

    I decided that when I do eat bad and go way over my calories or miss a gym day I'm going to write in the notes section of the log how I feel about it. Another thing that could help is get a day planner and put stickers on the days you do good (one color for eating and one color for exercise) It's helped me a lot this last month to stay on track.

    I also think I'm going to go back and log everything from the days I haven't logged (Like I said I log EVERYTHING on the WW tracker). Maybe I can figure out my calorie goal on here and boot WW in the next couple months.

    Feel free to add me. :smile:
  • LaurenAOK
    LaurenAOK Posts: 2,475 Member
    I log everything no matter what. However, if I have a bad day sometimes I wait a couple of days and then go back and log it. For example on Saturday I ended up getting a bit out of control with some alcoholic beverages (I was at a theme park with friends) and got taco bell on the way home. I knew I was going to be wayyy over my calories and that stressed me out, so I didn't log it right away. But last night when I was feeling more calm about the whole thing, I went back and inputted it. Turns out it wasn't as bad as I thought - I WAS several hundred calories over, but I had come in under a lot last week, so it wasn't a huge deal. It all evens out.

    Point being, I do think it's important to log everything. That way if you aren't losing, or even if you're losing more than expected, you can look at your calorie averages over time and see what might be going on.
  • Dethea
    Dethea Posts: 247 Member
    I go back and forth. If I know I'm only a little over, then I might not log those items. But if I go way over, I log those things too. Sometimes I'm surprised by how much "way over' actually is. Yesterday I had a bad food day, logged it all, and found out I only ate about 2200 calories. It kind of made me feel better knowing that I think 2200 is a lot, now that I've learned how much I should actually eat.
  • kenazfehu
    kenazfehu Posts: 1,188 Member
    It's kind of hard to log when I "fall off the wagon" because that means I don't weigh, measure, or count.
  • toya316
    toya316 Posts: 137 Member
    I have not logged many times due to guilt. But it made me feel worse. I try to log as accurate as possible daily. Reading this thread and the comments has helped me. We all struggle with this journey. Start logging everything.


    True... I only use to log Sunday ~ Thursday because of the guilt of drinking on the weekends :drinker: ... Now, I log, and that guilty feeling has put my drinking to a hault this weekend (first weekend of a full log)..:bigsmile: I think knowing that people are watching me helps me to stay on point...
  • ddamore
    ddamore Posts: 36 Member
    I stop logging when I fall off the wagon. I feel why bother, it will just take too much time to type in all of the stuff i've eatten. LOL i know that's awful. I was doing so well on here for awhile but i got sick a few months ago and now I just can't remotivate.
  • TonyStark30
    TonyStark30 Posts: 497 Member
    When I'm angry i don't log it. otherwise, I actually enjoy logging the binge days, its like eating it all again lol
  • TigvaDraga
    TigvaDraga Posts: 12 Member
    I have had this app for a year, and like you, I would not log in when I had a crap day. I also told myself that I didn't need to log the weekends, because those would be my cheat days. Well, I was only hurting myself! I did lose weight, but it took me 1 year to lose 10 pounds, I was like, ok, this is not working...I need to step it UP. My really good friend told me that she started using this sight and that she had online friends, and that it really helped to motivate her and keep her on track with where she wants to eventually be, she has lost 25 or 30 pounds in a few months from watching her food intake and working out on a regular basis. I thought it silly to be friends with people I do not know, but I gave it a shot anyhow. Well, it has been 30 days, and I have logged in EVERY day, I log in EVERYTHING, even when I have crap days, and I have had more than a few, pad thai, chinese, BEER! BUT, I still lost 5 pounds in 30 days! Logging the added calories that I KNOW I over did it on actually has helped me more, because I am more aware of what I need to work on the next day and more motivated to run and exercise a little bit harder. Hope this helps you! Keep logging in ;)
  • parmoute
    parmoute Posts: 99 Member
    This thread couldn't be any better timed. I had an awesome day yesterday nutritionally and I've been really happy with myself lately, but today is going to be a mess. I have insomnia and it's been screwy lately, which means the rest of my body has been too. Today I'm so over-tired that I'm moving around like Ricochet Rabbit, I can't focus on anything and I have a midterm at 6:00pm. I've given myself permission to eat whatever I need to in order to get through the day, but part having so much pseudo-energy is that I also have a serious case of the munchies. I'm not hungry, I just need to be doing stuff. I had just decided to call today a wash -- if I let myself, I'll eat so much without thinking about it that I won't even know what to log -- but then I read this thread. Even to blow off today, I have no problem getting "back on the wagon" tomorrow without much guilt, but you've all reminded me that I can do it, even on a crazy day like today. I might still head straight for the salty food, but I can slow down and log it all and work on balancing everything out over the rest of the week. Thanks for the inspiration!!!
  • TigvaDraga
    TigvaDraga Posts: 12 Member
    YES! Couldn't have said it better ;)
  • SomeoneSomeplace
    SomeoneSomeplace Posts: 1,094 Member
    I've had weeks where I was 4000 calories over my net, I log everything I eat.

    It keeps you accountable.
  • waltersjoshua
    waltersjoshua Posts: 6
    I will let myself have a bad day. Heck, sometimes I am having an awful day and will consciously stress eat. I always log it, and I try to never feel bad about it. Yeah, you made a mistake, but it is almost always recoverable. I have had weeks where I overate by a 1000(!) calories in one day, and I was still able to balance it out by exercising more and being very careful the rest of the week. The only person you are lying to is yourself. There is no shame in making a mistake, but not being honest about it robs you of the opportunity to make up for it.
  • dawgette4life
    dawgette4life Posts: 6
    I'm glad to see that I am not the only one who skips logging when they have a bad food day. Mine turned into a month and yesterday I started back full force. After reading this I am determined to log everything no matter what because everyone is right...I am only cheating myself by not logging, even the bad days. Thanks for starting this thread! :smile:

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